Cabin Fever
by Rangergirl3
Summary: The team recovers from their latest fight with the Galra..and apparently pain meds make Keith talkative. Set immediately after 'Broken Paladins'. Twelfth in the 'Lost Paladins' series.
1. Author's Note - Story Order

Greetings, reader! Thank you for clicking on this story! :D

This story is part of a series, but it can be read on its own.

If you're new to these stories, or if you're wondering what order they go in, here's the order of my 'Lost Paladins' series:

1) Lost Paladins

2) Fever Dreams

3) Team Building Exercises

4) Pidge one-shot

5) Red Means Blood

6) Chocolate Chip Cookies

7) Quality Time (references my fic 'You Can't Take the Sky From Me')

8) Broken Barriers

9) On the Edge

10) Scavenger Hunt

11) Broken Paladins

12) Cabin Fever

and the newest two that I have just posted:

13) Adventures in Babysitting

14) Family Is More Than Blood

Yup...you can tell I really love the Voltron: Legendary Defender show, huh? :D

But please, feel free to read this story on its own merit if you like - I love it when people read and review my stories! :D :D

The stories in this series do build on each other, so it may make a bit more sense if you read the stories in the order listed above. I would hate for you to feel lost or confused. :-)

There should be some more stories coming - I never thought I'd write this many, but all of the encouragement and support from you wonderful readers led to _everything_ after 'Lost Paladins'. :D :D Your reviews and encouragement are the life-blood that help me continue to write this series. Thank you!

As always, reviews help me know what people enjoyed/thought was interesting - your feedback helps this writer stay encouraged and get more ideas! It really makes my day to read what people thought/enjoyed - and feel free to PM me if you like! :D :D

Happy Reading!


	2. Prologue (Pain Meds)

Keith didn't know why Aurelis had let out a sound of surprise as he saw the medical scan results.

"What?" Keith asked when he saw that the healer was looking at him strangely. The Red Paladin felt a sudden sense of unease, but it vanished when the Proselyt asked him, in a flabbergasted tone of voice, _how_ in the _name_ of all the _stars_ in the _universe_ Keith hadn't noticed that his left shoulder was practically _dislocated_.

Aurelis face palmed himself when the Red Paladin blinked and seemed completely surprised at the news.

"Uh…"

Keith looked down at his shoulder and then back at the healer, looking confused.

"It is?"

Aurelis threw his hands up in the air in a 'what am I going to do with you?!' manner that somehow needed no explanation. It was surprisingly similar to something Shiro would have done if he'd known about it and wasn't -

Wasn't in a cryo-pod because he'd almost died at the hands of the Galra. Again.

Keith swallowed and looked down at the floor, suddenly feeling exhausted. Now that the healer mentioned it, his shoulder did hurt more than - than maybe it should have. He didn't know exactly when it had started to hurt, but now -

Keith suddenly felt dizzy, and he was glad he was sitting in a chair against the wall, so that he could lean his head back and close his eyes.

The healer had already leapt to his feet and was now preparing a sling, and Keith heard him grab what sounded like several doses of pain-killers from a nearby drawer.

" _Stars_ ," Aurelis was saying as he gathered everything he needed to treat Keith's shoulder, "sometimes I think your pain receptors must be completely arbitrary - _stars_ , Paladin, you're telling me you didn't notice it before now?!"

Keith kept his head against the wall, and almost didn't want to open his eyes, because he was still trying to block out the sudden wave of dizziness and exhaustion that threatened to overwhelm him, but at the healer's question, he forced his eyes open, tried to focus on answering the question. He didn't want Aurelis to think he was ignoring him.

Keith made to shrug his shoulders and stopped mid-motion, hissing between his teeth. Shrugging had been a bad idea.

"Didn't - really have the time," he said. "Sort of - busy - there was a lot happening. I-"

In his mind's eye, he saw Haggar again, standing in front of the giant machine - he remembered how awful Shiro's screams had been - and suddenly the world seemed to tilt and waver, and Keith felt as if suddenly, he was starting to fall backwards down a very long tunnel.

Aurelis turned around, his arms full of medical supplies, and saw the Red Paladin was just staring into space, his hands gripping the sides of the chair. His eyes were locked onto the far distance, and he seemed to be looking at something invisible that he both feared and hated.

"Paladin?" Aurelis asked, and then the Red Paladin was looking back at Aurelis, and he seemed to be slowly coming back, back out of the memory, back to the present.

"…yeah…?" the Red Paladin asked after a moment, and he sounded - well, he sounded as if he'd just felt the full effects of the last few days come rushing back to him all at once.

Without ceremony, Aurelis let the medical supplies clatter onto a nearby table, came over to Keith, and checked his temperature by putting one hand onto Keith's forehead, while at the same time taking a gentle but firm hold of the boy's wrist to take his pulse.

The Red Paladin sputtered, and he sounded much more like his usual self when he said, obviously confused, " _What_ are you _doing_?"

"Hmm-mmm," the healer said, and without further ceremony, he picked up a cup full of medicine and shoved it into Keith's good hand.

"I want you to take that before I put your shoulder back into place," he said, and ignored Keith's protests as he continued. "It's clear you don't communicate pain well, and so, I am taking reasonable measures to ensure you don't simply suffer in silence."

"I - _what_?!" Keith said, unsure whether or not to take this as some kind of insult. Aurelis re-organized the medical supplies on the table as he continued.

"It's not that you refuse to acknowledge pain - you just think it's normal or something that you can work through, and it's - frankly - a very dangerous mindset."

"…why is that dangerous, exactly?" Keith asked, deciding that Aurelis wasn't calling him weak. The healer turned and gave Keith a direct look as he said,

"Because pain is how your body communicates a need for rest, for treatment, and for healing. If you are unable to meet those needs, it's bad for you. It's _very_ bad for you."

The healer reached out, grabbed hold of a small mug of water standing on a different side table, turned back towards Keith, and placed it firmly into the Red Paladins' other hand.

"So, take the freaking medicine and drink some water before I put your shoulder back into place."

Keith muttered something under his breath about healers being bossy, but he did it. Aurelis set the shoulder - which was far from being a pleasant experience for either Keith or the healer - and then the healer put Keith's arm into a sling.

"Should we just call it a 'cyber-sling' now?" Keith asked before he realized he was asking the question. He groaned and put his good hand over his face. " _Agh_ , not _again_. Why do all your medicines have this effect on me?!"

Aurelis tried to keep the smile from his face as he answered. "You can call the sling anything you want, Keith. But as for the medicine's effects on you, I'm afraid it varies from patient to patient. For you, it makes you more inclined to voice what you're thinking, or to - well, just say more than you usually would."

"Stars," Keith said, "It's like - I can't shut up." His eyes widened slightly then, and he looked almost concerned. "Oh, crap - it makes me sound like - Lance…"

Aurelis really, really tried not to smile at the dismay in Keith's voice. It was strange to see Keith under the influence of pain medicine, but it wasn't really anything healers weren't used to seeing. Pain medicine could have a wide variety of side-effects. Some people grew more talkative, some people grew sleepy, and others simply acted very much like their usual selves.

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Aurelis said. "Come on - let's get you back to the room with the others."

Keith sighed as he got up from his chair, and Aurelis made sure to keep an eye on him as they walked back down the hallway.

As they neared the room where the other Paladins waited, Aurelis heard the other three Paladins talking about something - a card house? It must be an Earth game they were playing to pass the time.

Pidge bounded to her feet in confused concern when Keith appeared in the doorway, his arm in a sling.

"What-" she began to ask, but Aurelis waved a clawed hand and said, "Don't worry, it was nothing serious - his shoulder was just dislocated."

Pidge heard the healer sigh before he continued. "He - he said he hadn't noticed."

Hunk sighed, rising from his chair to come and greet them both. "Yeah…that sounds like Keith…"

Keith made a dismissive sound and waved his good hand in denial. "No…'m just…you know…"

Lance's head shot up at the sound of Keith's voice, and the house of cards fluttered to the ground as he leapt out of his chair.

"Oh, man," he said, "Aurelis, you gave him painkillers, didn't you?"

The healer shrugged. "I had to."

Pidge shoved her glasses back up onto her nose. "And…how long did you say they last again?"

Aurelis shrugged. "Well, it's not the exact same type I gave him before. A few hours, perhaps? He seems to be more coherent this time, at least…"

Just then, Keith turned and headed towards the door again, his face set and seemingly back to normal.

" 'S cool," he said. " "m just - going to go train for awhile - "

Lance, Hunk, and Pidge exchanged a meaningful look, and Aurelis sighed.

"Then again…" the healer said. "Maybe I spoke too soon."


	3. Cabin Fever

The hardest part about being stuck inside a room with Keith on pain meds was that it was hard to know exactly how to interact with him.

Aurelis had assured them that Keith would be perfectly back to normal soon, but that the best thing to do until then was to keep him distracted, and to keep him from trying to use his arm.

"Come _on_ ," Keith said, "'m bored - let's go to the training deck-"

He made to get off the couch again, but Pidge put her tiny hand onto his shoulder and gently pushed him back into a sitting postion. The Red Paladin was clearly in no condition to train at the moment, but it was no good saying so to his face.

So instead, Lance just waved his hands around in a vague, 'nah' kind of gesture, making sure to keep it from seeming like an outright refusal. He was pretty sure it was a bad idea to get into an argument with Keith right now - considering how the Red Paladin's fuse was bound to be pretty short once he figured out that he couldn't train for at _least_ another few days.

"Nah," he said, "how about we do a - uh - oh! How about a strategy exercise?!"

Pidge looked at Lance blankly for a second, but she caught on quickly. "Oh - yeah!" she said. "Here - I'll set it up - "

Keith followed her movements intently with his eyes, as if trying to understand what she was doing.

"…Pidge…?" he asked after a few seconds. "…is that…a chess board?"

She turned to him, nodding genially. "Heck yeah it is!" she said. "Or at least, I can _make_ it be a chess board. I didn't really being a lot of stuff here with me, but I'll get us some movies and stuff in a little while-"

Keith shrugged with his good arm. "-nah - 's cool - chess is - good." He blinked, looking around the lounge, and asked Lance, "…where's Hunk?"

"Oh, Hunk's gone out for a bit," Lance said. "He'll be right back."

Hunk had gone out with Aurelis for his medical scan, so it was just them in the lounge, trying to keep Keith from saying anything he might regret after the pain meds wore off. Lance and Pidge had agreed to keep any topics of conversation light, or to at least try and keep Keith distracted until he fell asleep from the pain meds like he had before.

At Lance's words, Pidge saw Keith's face crease in - was that worry?

"I gotta - I gotta go look for him," Keith said, making to stand up again, but this time, Lance was the one who gently kept him from getting out of his seat.

"Nah, man," Lance said, making sure to keep his tone easy and friendly, "Hunk'll be right back - I think he went to get us some - "

"-chocolate chip cookies!" Pidge finished, grinning over at Keith. "It's his treat - I think he wanted to surprise you - but yeah, there's nothing to worry about, Keith! Here - which color do you want to be, white or black?"

She pushed the travel-sized chess board towards Keith, who looked down at it thoughtfully. "I can't - I can't really - remember which one goes first," he said. Pidge grinned at him cheerfully. "Totally doesn't matter," she said. "It's been ages since I played - we can count this as a - a practice match!"

Keith stared at the board, still seeming slightly puzzled. Then he sighed, looking up at her, and said, almost shamefacedly, "I - I don't think I can play this game, Pidge - I'm - I'm not feeling - normal - right now…"

He broke off, looking back around the room, and suddenly his eyes looked scared, almost nervous. "W-where's Shiro?" he asked, almost rising to his feet again. "Is-isn't he here?"

Pidge and Lance looked at each other then, and Lance took over. "Oh, he's around," Lance said, "No need to worry, man - I think he and Allura are, uh - having some couple time, know what I mean?"

The Blue Paladin reached over and carefully patted Keith's good shoulder as he spoke, and he saw his friend visibly relax at the reassurance. Heartened by this, Lance continued. "Say, Pidge - I've got an idea - how about a checkers match instead? I could really use some practice, it's been ages!"

Pidge nodded at Lance, almost gratefully. "Sure," she said, reaching out and quickly changing out the pieces on the board with a grace and fluidity that did not convey rush or haste, just vibrant interest and a keen enjoyment at the prospect of a game.

"All right, Lance," she said once it was set up, "Should you two play a game, and I watch? I don't mind sitting this one out if you two want to play a match first - "

"Whadda say, buddy?" Lance asked Keith. "Red or black?"

Pidge saw that Keith's eyes were creased in thought, and he seemed lost in a memory.

"Red," Keith said. "I think - I think I always played red."

"Cool!" Lance said, but he broke off as Pidge raised a hand at him in a 'hold-on-a-second' gesture. Lance looked again at Keith, and realized his friend wasn't really paying attention to the checkers board anymore. He was staring at the floor, and for a second, Lance and Pidge didn't really know what to do.

When Keith spoke, he almost seemed to be thinking out loud. "…yeah…I did…I always chose red…"

"Hey, buddy," Lance said, making sure to keep his tone friendly and very, very relaxed. "Whatcha thinking 'bout?"

Keith looked back up at them, and he seemed surprised to see them there. "I - uh - nothing," he said. "Just - just a memory."

He blinked again, and he suddenly sagged back into the couch, rubbing the space between his eyes with his good hand. "Hadn't remembered it for awhile…"

Pidge patted him on the knee, and said, "Hey, Lance, how about we move the checkerboard? I think Keith should lie down…"

Lance nodded in agreement, and together, the Green and Blue Paladin helped their friend lie down on the couch, facing out towards the room so that he wouldn't roll of the couch in his sleep and maybe hurt himself. Lance made sure that Keith's injured arm was supported by pillows, and by the time Pidge covered him with a blanket, Keith was already mostly asleep.

"Should we sit by him, you think?" Lance whispered to Pidge, who nodded.

"I'm pretty sure he won't move much," she said, "but I don't want him waking up without someone nearby. You know - unfamiliar surroundings - coming off of pain meds - I think he'll feel confused. But if we're by him - I think that'll be better."

Lance nodded, grabbing a few pillows from nearby chairs so that he and Pidge could make themselves comfortable on the ground in front of the couch.

"So…checkers?" he asked in a whisper, and Pidge smiled at him.

"Sure."


	4. Waking Up

Once Hunk had returned, Pidge left the room with Aurelis, and Lance heard Allura in the hallway outside as the Princess joined the Green Paladin and Aurelis as they headed towards the medical bay.

"I'll help with your medical scan," Allura told Pidge, just before they passed out of hearing range. Lance smiled to himself - it was just like Allura, to make sure the youngest Paladin didn't feel too awkward during something like this.

Allura was a pretty great Princess.

Lance was ridiculously pleased that she and Shiro were finally a couple - or would be, once Shiro got out of the cryopod. Lance felt his spirits dip a little at that thought, but then Hunk came over, and together, he and Lance began rebuilding the house of cards that had toppled over previously.

They'd gotten about half-way through the reconstruction process when Hunk heard Keith start talking in his sleep.

It was mostly fragments, and Hunk tried hard not to listen in, but it sounded like Keith was dreaming about the Garrison. Something about mechanical failure and a scapegoat and -

 _Oh, crap._ Keith was remembering the Kerberos aftermath.

Lance realized it too, just a few seconds after Hunk did, and they exchanged looks of concern. Should they try to wake Keith up? Reassure him? Or would that just make him more disoriented?

Just then, Keith stirred and sat up, blinking and seemingly a little dazed, and Hunk turned and put a careful hand on Keith's leg.

"Hey there, man," he said. "Did you have a good rest?"

Keith blinked down at him then, blinked again, saw Lance, and then seemed to remember where he was.

"-oh-" he said. "uh-fine. It was fine."

He looked at his arm, sighed, and looked back at the two of them. "How 'bout you guys - did either of you - "

Hunk shook his head, and Lance gave Keith a thumbs up. "Nah, we're good," Lance said. "Pidge'll be back soon, and I'll be the last one to go - but then we should all be back to normal!"

Keith snorted and pointed to his own arm. "Well, almost."

Lance chuckled. "Yeah - almost."

Hunk turned around to look at the door as someone came down the corridor and turned to look in at them.

It was Rayzor, and he suddenly looked - concerned.

Hunk waved him in, and Rayzor came to stand directly beside the table where the house of cards still was in progress.

"How - are you?" he asked them, and Keith shrugged, pointing to his sling. "Apparently I _am_ a red shirt," Keith said, and Rayzor looked confused.

"It's a movie reference," Hunk explained. Then his face brightened. "Hey - actually - Rayzor, maybe you could see it with us sometime!"

Lance grinned, nodding. "Yeah - once Pidge is done, maybe she can grab her movies and stuff, and we can show you a few Earth classics!"

Rayzor seemed even more confused and looked over at Keith. "Movie?" he asked.

Keith blinked again, rubbing his eyes with his good hand. "-it's - Earth entertainment," he said, and Rayzor nodded.

"Ah," the blue-skinned man said. "I think I understand."

Just then, Pidge bounded back into the room, and she had her usual pack on her back. "Sorry for the wait," she said, bounding over to the table and swinging her pack onto its surface. "I made a quick detour - ack! Sorry!"

The house of cards had fallen over again, but Lance waved the apology aside. "Eh," he said, "I could never get past the first two levels anyway - "

Just then, Aurelis poked his head into the room and called over to Lance, and as Lance left the room, he heard Rayzor ask the others if Coran and Allura might be able to join them shortly for a brief meeting.

Lance hoped they'd wait for him to get back before they started.


	5. Geeks Unite

When Lance got back to the lounge, he found everyone waiting for him. He beamed cheerfully at them all, giving them the good old Lance 'thumbs up'.

"Just like I thought - I'm totally good to go!" he said, sitting down in a chair next to Hunk. "So - what's up?"

Keith pointed over at Rayzor. The after-effects of the pain meds were fading, but clearly weren't completely gone yet. "Sounds like Rayzor has some Council news," he said. "Which of course we all just can't _wait_ to hear-we all just _love_ the Council -"

Rayzor tried to keep a smile from his face at Keith's unusually vocal and sarcastic behavior, but Keith saw and scowled slightly.

" _Dammit_ ," he said to himself, but Coran patted him on the knee in a 'It's okay,' gesture and nodded for Rayzor to continue.

It seemed that a seat on the Council had opened up. An older member had decided to step down, and Rayzor had presented himself as a possible candidate for the open position.

Coran smiled as Rayzor finished.

"Congratulations," he said warmly, extending a hand towards Rayzor, who shook it.

"Well, I'm not on the Council yet," Rayzor said, "but - I am hopeful."

Allura was smiling and nodding. "Well, we're very pleased to hear that you have decided to try," she said, and Rayzor nodded at her.

"It may not come to pass - but if I do become a Council member - I intend to keep our alliance strong," he said, rising to his feet. "I have to attend to some things - but - "

The leader of the guards hesitated before continuing. "If - if you would like, I could come back afterwards - "

Hunk nodded vigorously, smiling at Rayzor. "Sure!" he said, beaming. "We could play cards or something - "

"-and maybe you could tell us more about your culture's history," Allura said. "-I'd love to learn more about it-"

Allura realized that Rayzor seemed startled..and maybe a little bit pleased at her request.

"I'd - I'd be happy to," he said. "If - if you like, I'll - I'll bring someone I'd like you to meet."

Coran saw the Paladins and the Princess nod.

"Sure," Keith said. His mouth twitched then, but it was a genuine half-smile as he said, "Just as long as they don't mind if I'm in the room-"

Rayzor snorted then, a sound that Keith understood to mean 'Of course they won't mind, don't be ridiculous', as he rose to leave and headed towards the door, saying he'd be back within a few hours.

As he left, Rayzor saw the shortest Paladin wave goodbye to him in a - a downright friendly manner. He felt…odd…as if he were actually glad to know she wished him well.

"Wow, Pidge," Lance said, looking after Rayzor's retreating form, "you sure warmed up to him-"

Pidge shrugged a shoulder. "Well…I spoke to him on the comms yesterday, remember? When we were coming back to the planet in Black?" She looked back towards the door and readjusted her glasses.

"He was - well - he was asking how everyone was - and it - it didn't really sound like he was just gathering military information. He was - worried. I don't know - I think - I think he might - I think he might actually care."

She realized that Allura and Coran were listening with great interest to her words, and she shrugged again. "I don't know, that's just the feeling I got. And from how he's acted recently - I think he really does want to keep our alliance strong."

Lance jumped to his feet, grinning. "Speaking of alliances - we need to celebrate!" he said, and he turned to Pidge. "Hey, Pidge, do you have Star Trek?"

Pidge looked at him as if he'd spoken gibberish.

"Do I have - _Lance_ ," she said, and she pulled out her digital drive, a huge grin on her face. "What kind of geek do you think I would be if I didn't have Star Trek?"

Hunk grinned over at her. "Pidge, have I told you that I think you're pretty cool?"

"Well, I'm not stopping you from saying it again," Pidge said back to him, smiling.

"How 'bout Star Wars?" Keith asked, interest showing in his voice. Pidge gave him a quizzical look.

"Well…I have all those too…unless you were hoping to see those three 'prequels'…"

Keith made a retching sound and waved his hand. "We don't talk about those - those don't count - hell, I'm okay with saying they don't even _exist_ \- "

Lance nodded vigorously. "Oh, those were dark days - brrrr, egh - "

Hunk shrugged. "Well…they weren't great…but at least the effects were decent - "

Pidge nodded at Hunk as she began to set up the drive. "Yeah…but story-wise…" she shuddered expressively.

"No argument there," Hunk said. "Well, anyway - what do you think we should start off with?"

Keith shrugged and sat back in his seat.

" 'S cool," he said. "I've seen pretty much everything."

Pidge looked up at him, her eyes gleaming. "Well, how about the reboot of Star Trek?"

Hunk nodded, but Lance leapt to his feet. "What?! We're not starting with the original?"

Keith looked over at Lance, and his eyes seemed to narrow slightly. "What, you didn't like the reboot?"

Lance waved his hands around his head, shaking his head. "No, it's not that - it's just - "

Keith groaned and let his head fall back against the edge of the couch. " _Lance_ , just because it's a reboot or a spinoff doesn't mean it's not just as good - or better than - the original thing - "

Lance made a sound of insulted disbelief and pretended to faint onto another couch.

"Sacrilege!" he exclaimed, but he was grinning, and Hunk and Pidge were laughing at how Keith was shaking his head and beginning to tell Lance that he could think of at least five shows that had improved from -

Keith almost stopped then, realizing he was talking _way_ more than usual, but he saw that the other Paladins were really interested, and he saw that Coran and Allura were seemingly fine with just listening.

Hell with it.

Keith kept talking, getting really animated about the different shows and movies, and as he kept talking, Lance realized that he felt a lot less homesick now.

Hunk and Pidge loved this stuff too, but they were so darn smart that sometimes Lance felt a little bit left out when they got involved in lots of techno-babble. But now that he realized Keith was just as much a nerd - or a geek - as he was - somehow, that made home feel a lot closer than it had before now.

They might be fighting the Galra, and they might be lightyears away from home…but sometimes…it was the simple things that kept you sane.

Then Pidge pulled out her tablet and tossed it over to Keith, who used it to bring up the different shows to illustrate what he was talking about.

"Okay, take this one-" he said, and Lance felt his jaw drop open.

"Dude, that's a _classic_!"

Keith looked over at him, clearly not agreeing with the sentiment.

Lance leapt to his feet.

"You realize," he said, but he was grinning as he said it, "that this means war!"

Keith grinned back at Lance, making a 'come at me' gesture as he said "Bring it - I've got all day."

As they began arguing about what made a movie or a show a classic, Pidge whispered over to Hunk "I wish we had some popcorn - this is going to get good," and Hunk nodded in agreement.

"But - " Pidge said, and she took the tablet from where Keith had put it down on the table - "if they go for more than another few minutes - how 'bout you and I just start watching Stargate?"

Hunk grinned at her. "Fine by me."


	6. Epilogue (Meeting Someone New)

As Keith and Lance went back and forth, and Pidge and Hunk started to watch something on the tablet, Coran leaned over and whispered to Allura, "Princess - do you have any idea what they're arguing about this time?"

Allura smiled faintly and shook her head. "Not really - but it certainly is entertaining to watch them go at it."

Coran laughed. "I wonder who Rayzor would like us to meet?"

Allura shook her head. "I really don't know - but I doubt it's going to be a Council member."

When Rayzor had entered the room a little while later, all the Paladins and the Alteans stopped what they were doing and turned towards the door. They saw that Rayzor was leading a little girl by the hand. She hid behind him as they entered the room, but she peeked out from behind his knee as he introduced her.

"This is my niece, Beyris," he said. Coran looked at the girl, then back at Rayzor. Rayzor nodded, and pride entered his voice then. "My - brother's daughter."

Allura leaned down so that she was eye to eye with the little girl.

"Hello, Beyris," she said. "It's so nice to meet you. Your uncle -"

Beyris looked up at Rayzor, and then back at Allura, and a shy smile crept over her face. "I like your hair," she said, and then Beyris turned and buried her face into her uncle's leg.

"Aww!" Lance said, practically melting at the cuteness. "Rayzor, she's adorable! How old is she?"

"Almost five," Rayzor said, even as Beyris held out one clawed hand out to show her age, all five of her fingers spread wide.

"That's a _great_ number," Hunk said. He and Lance had come over together and now stood by Coran.

"Yeah," Beyris said. "I know - you're five too, right?"

Hunk and Lance looked at each other, a bit confused, but Pidge thought she understood what Beyris was asking.

Pidge leaned against a wall and adjusted her glasses. "Yeah, we're the five Paladins of -"

She broke off, realizing that wasn't quite true right now. Shiro wasn't with them right now.

"Well-" Pidge said, trying to ignore the way her heart suddenly hurt at the thought of Shiro still asleep in the healing pod, "well - our friend is resting - but yeah, there _are_ five of us. And Allura and Coran, of course."

The girl silently counted on her fingers for a second, and then she looked back up at Pidge and Coran. "So…seven?" she asked, uncertainly, and Coran nodded, smiling down at her.

"Ah, right on the first try," he said genially. "You're better at finger counting than I am!"

Beyris smiled again, looking up at Rayzor. "Did you hear that, Uncle? He says I'm really good at finger counting!"

Rayzor patted her shoulder. "Yes," he said, "He did -"

Beyris looked over at Keith then, and she suddenly scurried forward, coming to stand in front of him, and she looked directly up into his face.

"Uh - hi there," Keith said, freezing into place. His eyes flicked between the others and the girl. He was clearly uncertain of what to do.

"Are you the Red Paladin?" Beyris asked, her voice inquisitive.

" - yeah -" Keith said, not knowing what she might do next.

"I thought you had _yellow_ eyes," she said, but she didn't sound scared, just disappointed. Keith felt something like amused relief then, and he half-smiled down at her.

"I - I think I do - sometimes," he said. "It - just - uh - kinda - happens - "

Beyris nodded. "Can you _show_ me next time it happens? It sounds really - "

" _Beyris_ ," Rayzor said, leaning down and gently scooping the girl into his arms, "Beyris, that's not something you just - ask-"

But Keith was grinning as he looked over at Rayzor and answered Beyris. "Well - I can't really - control it," he told her. "But - uh - if you're ever around - when it happens - I'll - tell you, okay?"

Beyris nodded, then leaned over to her uncle's ear and whispered (in a voice that wasn't really any softer then her speaking voice), "I think I like him. He's not scary."

Rayzor face palmed himself with his free hand, and Keith couldn't hold back a snort of laughter.

"Not scary, huh?" he asked Rayzor once Beyris had gotten down and run off to go play with the other Paladins.

Rayzor snorted again. "I never told her you were scary. She's _five_. She says a lot of things."

Even as Keith smiled at that, he raised an eyebrow. "But she _does_ know my eyes change color?"

Rayzor sighed. "She kept asking about how the Paladins of Voltron looked, and so I told her that - sometimes - your eyes change color."

Keith looked over at where Beyris was oohing and aahing at Pidge and Hunk's newest piece of technology experimentation, and when he looked back at Rayzor, his face was serious.

"Does she know - that I'm - um…"

"Not yet," Rayzor said. "I wanted her to - just - meet you all. For who you are."

Keith blinked, but said nothing. Coran and Allura had been nearby throughout the conversation, and they looked at each other than with something resembling happiness.

Rayzor had clearly changed since first they'd met.

And that was enough to hope that maybe this alliance would continue to grow.


End file.
